OAKLAND – Three judges watched Chris Rodriguez closely as the 11-year-old wheeled himself into a classroom, greeted them quietly and moved to the piano.

“Very nice,” one of them said, after Chris had played samples of three children’s songs. “Have you studied eighth-notes yet?”

Before a gunshot put his musical hopes on hold, Chris had planned to audition for a spot at the Oakland School for the Arts. He enjoyed playing drums and piano, and dreamed of attending the selective charter school.

Chris was practicing piano Jan. 10 when a stray bullet came though the wall of his music school and severed his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. Jared Adams, then 24, is accused of firing the shot during a nearby gas station robbery, and has been charged with attempted murder and other felonies. His trial is expected to begin in the fall.

Two months after the shooting, Chris left Children’s Hospital Oakland in a wheelchair. But before long, Chris took up lessons again, with a new teacher. And in June, he got his tryout at the Oakland School for the Arts.

Chris received his acceptance letter this week, allaying his worries about the audition.

“I was nervous,” Chris said. “When I went to talk to the judges, all they did was stare – no smiles or anything. They seemed so strict.”

Chris has been contemplating a career as a music producer, and he says he hopes he’ll learn some of the skills he’ll need at his new school, where he’ll enter sixth grade. Chris’s decision to pursue the goals he had before the injury – and his acceptance to the arts school – has sent a wave of relief to his parents.

“We had a goal, and although lots of things happened in between, we’re on track,” said Chris’s mother, Jennifer Rodriguez. “It’s an affirmation that we’re moving on.”

Chris still suffers from intense pain, and he’s returning to school full time for the first time since his injury. Despite those challenges, Chris’s father, Richard Rodriguez, remains optimistic.

“We’re trying to build our life back,” he said. “It’s very difficult to see your child in pain, to see part of his childhood taken away from him. There are certainly things he may have to surrender for part of his life, or maybe his entire life, but you have to find new interests.”

Katy Murphy is based in Sacramento and covers state government for The Mercury News and East Bay Times, a beat she took on in January 2017. Before that, she was the news organization's higher education reporter, writing about UC, CSU, community colleges and private colleges. Long ago, she covered Oakland schools and other K-12 education issues.

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